After I got it into my stupid/pretty head that I wanted to be a part of the Bluenose Marathon, I couldn’t shake it. I’ve missed all but the last two deadlines. (It’s costly, $55, on top of the cost of the whole trip home.) So I thought about volunteering – painting people’s noses blue, testing my manual dexterity under duress clipping off people’s timing chips – basically being part of the swing of things at my second favourite marathon and getting that orange volunteer t-shirt!
Then I thought about how I could volunteer as a pace bunny! So far as I know, I can pace for a finish time that is 15 minutes slower than my normal finishing time (no need for bunnies to go dropping dead on the course). And I did run in the Bluenose two years go.
There’s also the part of being a bunny that I seem to like….
I know where this stems from, too. For years and years, I did aerobics but never “advanced” in the manner of becoming an instructor. I know, not everyone has that aspiration and I wouldn’t do it as a full-time job, but I felt rather bland when a fellow grad student did aerobics for a year and turned it into a part-time job. I think it’s a bit of that leadership quality she has that is more than my own.
It also stems from me knowing that I’m living an entirely selfish life right now – my immediate family is so far away that I’m released from any obligation except bi-annual visits and being accessible by phone. My Vancouver relatives do not ask anything of me since they are all self-sufficient nuclear family units. I don’t even have a boyfriend to occupy my time and mull over. Essentially, I have so much me-time it’s slightly scary. Ergo, I should give back somehow and volunteer for something.